"Mondrian" color panel
Date1975-1985
Inventory Number2004-1-0258
ClassificationPanel
Subject
Maker
American
User
Edwin H. Land
1909 - 1991
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions225 x 167 x 70 cm (88 9/16 x 65 3/4 x 27 9/16 in.)
Material
DescriptionOne of three large Mondrian panels used with the photometer 2004-1-0214a to study the Retinex theory of color vision. It is a collage of colored paper framed in wood and supported by a stand.
Here is how Land described this type of design (1983): "We prepared a laboratory display which we dubbed a 'Mondrian' (although it actually is closer to a van Doesburg), utilizing about 100 colored papers. A paper of a given color would appear many times in different parts of the display, each time having a different size and shape and each time being surrounded by a different set of other colored papers. One reason for the design was to prohibit the superposition of after images of areas onto other areas, and another reason for the design was to obviate explanations of results in terms of the size of shape or surrounding of any given paper."
Here is how Land described this type of design (1983): "We prepared a laboratory display which we dubbed a 'Mondrian' (although it actually is closer to a van Doesburg), utilizing about 100 colored papers. A paper of a given color would appear many times in different parts of the display, each time having a different size and shape and each time being surrounded by a different set of other colored papers. One reason for the design was to prohibit the superposition of after images of areas onto other areas, and another reason for the design was to obviate explanations of results in terms of the size of shape or surrounding of any given paper."
In Collection(s)
Signedunsigned
FunctionUsed by Land for his experiments with color vision (Retinex theory). It was also most likely used in Land's famous lectures on the same topic.
ProvenanceThis object belonged to Edwin H. Land and came from the Rowland Institute, Harvard University. Gift of the Edwin H. Land Family.
American
Date: 1975-1985
Accessories: ballast bricks
Object number: 2004-1-0259a
American
Date: 1975-1985
Accessories: ballast bricks
Object number: 2004-1-0259c
Rowland Institute
Date: 1970-1994
Object number: 2004-1-0263
Henri G. Galeotti
Date: 1830-1858
Object number: 1998-1-1450
Alexandre Brongniart
Date: 1829
Object number: 1998-1-1442
Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: circa 1980
Object number: 1998-1-1042
Newton & Company
Date: 1861-1890
Accessories: brush, 2 watch glasses, 37 slides
Object number: 1997-1-0718
Rowland Institute
Date: 1970-1998
Object number: 2004-1-0262
